IQ is a band that has been in the Prog scene for decades now, the band has a loyal fanbase, and this is their eight full length album, and first one in four years.
For those that are not familiar with this band, they play Progressive Rock in the vein of Marillion, Arena and Genesis (Peter Gabriel era), anyway, this new release follows the style of the band: flawless compositions, creative songwriting and lengthy songs.

"Sacred Sound" starts the album with a marvelous Hammond organ marking the pace of the whole album, the 11 minute opener show us what are this guys capable of, next we slow things down and listen "Red Dust Shadow" a great acoustic song, listening to this I can imagine where Dream Theater draws some influences. Right after that is "You Never Will" at first the song matches the tic tac of a clock, then becomes a good song, but frankly, nothing impressive, "Born Brilliant" has this Pink Floyd-ish sound to it, but this four songs are just a preview for the 24 minute epic closer of the album, "Harvest Of Souls", divided in VI parts, each one with a different moods and atmospheres, truly a magnificent piece of song.

IQ won't disappoint any fans with this album I'm sure, and I'm sure they never disappointed any with any album they released, what I read they always release high quality material, and I can prove that they done it again.
Progressive Metal fans, take a look where all your precious bands go for some inspiration, Progressive Rock bands, you don't need me telling you to buy this album, you probably have this at home and already listened many more times than me.

This album is great, all the musical passages are very inspiring like you said... Arjen must be a fan because he definitely seems to duplicate the style. What I like about IQ is that they aren't afraid to try different things, truly "Progressive", and the album is interesting throughout every spin. "Harvest of Souls" is my favorite 20-minute-plus opus of all-time... Nice review my friend...

I enjoy the album a lot, being a huge fan of ELP, YES and Jethro, just to mention some of those who sound a bit similar to IQ, it was a discover that definitely fill a spot that was just for pure prog music.